The Future of Our Hobby...

[1923VictorFan]

Hi All,
I just finished reading Rod Picketts post entitled "A Collector Story" and it started me thinking... (often a dangerous activity)...Does the generation of kids now in their teens or younger share the same value system that made Rods story possible? Then my mind went spinning out of control and I asked myself. Will our younger generations raised in a world of hi-tech computers, communication devices, entertainment systems, etc even care enough to collect or bother restoring these talking machines that we love?
What's the future of our hobby?

[TinfoilPhono]

This is a topic that I've discussed with many people over the years. It's a big unknown, of course. The collector base could dry up, or it could expand. There's no way to know. But what I keep going back to is the basic fact that none of us are into these for nostalgia. We didn't grow up with these ancient machines, they were old and obsolete long before we came along. So why are there so many of us collecting them?

I can understand that some things are directly tied to generational memories or unfulfilled wishes. In my father's day, Model T's were hot and high-priced. There are still plenty of collectors who own and drive them, but prices have plummeted as his generation disappears. In more recent years my generation jumped on the muscle car bandwagon, indulging an urge most of us could never afford in our youth. But that fad was short-lived and prices have collapsed.

Phonographs are different. I can't even explain my own fascination so I won't presume to try to explain why others like them too. But even though we can't relate to them nostalgically, we like them.

My guess is that there will be others following us who will enjoy them for the same inexplicable reasons. They may even enjoy them more than we do. Already I'm seeing young people of my daughter's generation expressing absolute fascination when they encounter a non-digital music device. The concept is so alien to them that they are intrigued. There's a resurgence of interest in LPs among people who are serious about music. I expect that children of the digital age will eventually gravitate to all sorts of devices that mechanically did what they only know as computer-generated. There's a sense of wonder about a machine that records and reproduces sounds entirely mechanically, with no electricity, let alone computer chips.

My friend Dave Heitz used to talk often about his concerns about the future of collecting, worrying whether his collection would someday be liquidated for pennies on the dollar. Alas, he got the answer sooner than anyone would wish when he came down with cancer. He sold his entire collection in 2004, a few months before he died. Most of the collection was gobbled up and spread to all corners of the world in a matter of weeks, at strong prices.

[phonogfp]

Here's a thread that may interest you:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=6051

Rene's points are well taken. When I started collecting phonographs in 1967, I really truly thought I was the only one in the world doing this. I was a dumb 13 year-old kid who was inexplicably awestruck by spring-driven talking machines. (The only thing that has changed is my age!) There will always be those who find antique phonographs appealing - for whatever reason. Of course, the number of collectors/buyers may fluctuate over time, and that will drive "the market."

George P.

[OrthoFan]

A couple times every week, I do a search on Youtube for videos posted related to Victrolas, gramophones, "antique phonographs," etc., with Google set to display the most recent posts.

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl ... 24&bih=625

From time to time, I spot a "look what I found" type post made by a newbie who sounds like a teenager or 20-something, such as this one -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_YbD1apoPQ

I've thought of extending invitations to these people to check out this forum, but don't want to be flagged as a spammer.

In any event, I think that there will always be some interest, looking far ahead, just as there is still an interest in collecting music boxes, stereo cards & viewers, and other long outdated technologies and entertainment devices. It may be more limited over time, but even that's hard to predict. Certainly, because of the internet, it will be more global, especially as collectors learn to appreciate (and desire) products that were not widely available in their own countries at the time they were produced. (The HMV Model 1-A, mentioned in another post, is a good example of that.)


O.F.

[CarGuyZM10]

Being 21 years old, this is a question very near to me. Both with this, model trains, and even antique cars, it scares me, because you rarely see people my age into these things. I don't want to be old, and be the only collector left! Anyway, I watch closely, and I do see kids looking at the old cars at the car show, kids posting on train forums about their trains, and I see people posting about how they are young, but they like this old music. While the new technology is really nice for listening to music on the go, I think that these kids who find this music neat will want to get the machines to listen to the music the way it was meant to be.

[Lenoirstreetguy]

As I've said before in these discussions, I think the hobby is in amazing shape compared to forty years ago. As exhibit A I am attaching a scan I did of an article that appeared in today's Toronto Star, ironically enough. The very fact that the Sunday paper has, in 2011, an article about Rod Lauman's Victrola Repair Service is a testament to the vitality of the hobby.
JRT

[phononut]

Hello

This topic seems to come up a lot on TMF. I am a 12 year old collector who owns the following machines:

Amberola 30
Aeolion Vocalion Graduola
Columbia Grafonola
Edison DD a-100


Nothing to be worried about. Many of my friends are also getting into retro things, not phonographs, but 33's and record players.

~Brad

[1923VictorFan]

Dear CarGuyZM10,
No reason to be worried about being the only one. By the time I was 8 years old I used to love going to see my grandparents once a month (we lived 125 miles away). Their house was FILLED with high quality Victorian walnut and rosewood furniture. It seemed like every surface in the house was made of marble. I loved the way it was always cool to the touch. I absolutely loved the old stuff and my grandfather used to show me his private possessions that he thought I'd like to see. My favorite was his 2 foot long stuffed alligator.(He used to work in Panama) I often spent hours exploring the house and all of its out buildings. By the age of 10 I started collecting wheat pennies and buffalo nickles. I remember my first major purchase...a 1913 Type-I Buffalo nickle. It set me back $5. I was 13 and I saved all summer for that purchase! When I misbehaved and deserved punishment my parents quickly discovered that the most effective punishment was to take away my coin collection for a week or longer.
Some of us just seem to have a fascination with vintage coins, radios, records, cars, cameras, clocks, etc. I like antique mechanical devices that still perform the same function now as they did 100+ years ago. Me...I'm a clock, camera and Victrola admirer. People are attracted to different things and many are sadly unable to pursue their interests once the demands of marriage & family take precedence. My humble advice is to enjoy your hobbies while you still can. Life will get more and more complicated... and when it does you can sit back in your favorite chair and relax to the crackly, century old hissing sounds of Enrico Caruso or Billy Murray on your wonderful, old talking machine. Best of Luck!

[gramophoneshane]

Here's another 5 page thread on the same topic. My views certainly haven't changed since then.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=5137

[Steve]

Will our younger generations raised in a world of hi-tech computers, communication devices, entertainment systems, etc even care enough to collect or bother restoring these talking machines that we love?

Absolutely not! Quite apart from the fact that the necessary skills and tools probably won't exist (do young people expect to ever get their hands dirty these days?)there is no evidence anywhere to suggest or support the theory that there is anything like the same number of newcomers to this hobby as there is those who we have sadly lost from it over the past 15 years. With every passing day the situation only gets much worse. Just look at the UK: no more than half a dozen serious collectors left and falling!